A living will is a declaration made by a testator during a time of legal capacity that, if there comes a time when the testator can no longer take part in decisions affecting the testator's own future, a set of instructions are to be followed. A living will usually specifies that if a situation should arise in which there is no reasonable expectation of the testator's recovery from extreme physical or mental disability, the will directs that the testator be allowed to die and not be kept alive by medication, artificial means or "heroic measures". In particular, the testator's instructions may include some or all of the following prohibitions, or other specific directions, in the hope that those to whom the living will is addressed will regard themselves as morally bound by the provisions of the will and absolving all who follow the instructions of any legal liability:
(a) no electrical or mechanical resuscitation of the testator's heart when it has stopped beating, PA1 (b) no nourishment or liquids, PA1 (c) no mechanical respiration when the testator is no longer able to self-sustain breathing, and PA1 (d) no surgery.
The living will may equally outline what resuscitative actions, procedures and medical treatments, the testator declares should be carried out.
The living will may further designate a proxy for the purpose of making medical decisions on behalf of the testator in the event of the incapacity of the testator. A living will is typically a document running one or two pages in length.
In short, the living will is a document which declares those wishes of the testator to be carried out in medical or other circumstances in which the testator may not be in a position to let his/her wishes known.
The problem in implementing the living will, which has not been recognized nor addressed in the prior art, is that a paramedic at the scene of a life threatening accident involving the testator, or the attending physician in a hospital emergency room to which the testator is transported, will have no way of knowing of the existence or the terms of the testator's living will, assuming the testator in such situations will not be able to coherently communicate. Furthermore, in most cases, time being of the essence, the medical team will have initiated therapeutic action before the testator's family can be contacted.
Applicant is aware of U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,293 which issued on Mar. 12, 1996 to Behram et al for a Privacy Protected Information Medium Using a Data Compression Method. Behram discloses a portable memory storage device in the manner of a "smart card" that can carry a variety of data, including record of a living will. Behram fails to disclose how the presence of such data would be brought to the attention of a medic or physician in instances when the living will would actually be relevant, other than by the specific use of the Behram smart card, the recognition by the medic or physician of the Behram smart card as possibly containing relevant medical information (assuming that the existence of the card is even detected), and the existence and skilled use of the necessary de-coding hardware and software.